Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-06-26
Headquarters OF the Pacific
Mail Transferred to Gan
Francisco.
GOULD AND SAGE.
Signals Received from the
Miners Imprisoned at
Virginia City.
HANAIHO VERDICT.
rHH ooRoHHR's yURY TTxIsH rHn AKpuous
weak or eEEKE0 THE cAusR or
THE GREAT COAL NINE
rraAaTwu

rHH oohoNnRs JURY ETEIsH THH ARDU0Ua
weak OF eKxKuo THE CAUSE OF
THB GREAT COAL MINE
DIHAaTHB-
VICTORIA, June 2b.-The inquest into
TIE Gauss Of the explosion at Nanaimo
9 concluded. The Coroner addressed
the taEy at some lenRth on The evidence.
Al e9o O'Clock last night the jury re-
tired 10 consider their veFdict, and ct 2
o'clock this morning returned the fol
lowing;
I'VE nod that Jshn Linn cane TO biz
death on the 80 day Of May, at she foot
OF No. ! shaft, 10 the city and district
Of Nanaimo, Province Of British Co
lumbia, from the effects Of Rfter-damp
caussd By a. explosioc; that said ex-
plosion was caused BY the firing of an
onpEeparsd and badly planted shot in
the face Of the diagonal slope, thereby
ignislng what Ras had acoamaIated or
was circulating In the air In its vicinity
and intensified By the addition Of coal
dus that . large volume Of air was
introduced into the mine, bat inasnueh
a. the inaemEnable ges could gen
eTaliy he found on the roof in
some high places the distribution
OF air was faulty In those high places !;
that In view Of the fact of It's being an
acknowle 'eed dry and dusty mine, and
that coal dust ts recognize ID factor in
colliery explosions, we submit that ne
cessaKy precautions have not been OBJ
served for minimizing the probabilities
Of catastrophe.
In rendering the above verdict We
wish 10 to bs distinctly understood that
We do not wish TO attribute any criminal
Negligence 10 anybody. We hold il to
be our duty to assist in trying 10 prevent
the recurrence Of such disaster as We
have bad under our consideration, and
would suggest that the system Of the
appointment nov ID use respecting the
Inspector Of Mines and hremen be abol-
isbed, as Il 10 frauaht with evil. We
wish Il to be understood that 10 speak.
ing thus We refer only to the manner or
system Of appointment and not as con-
veying any Ft thection upon the present
Inspector Of Mines.
"In our opinion all firemen should be
passed upon by o board Of examina-
Iion qualifying them for the RESPONSE
Bile positions, said board TO consist Of
the managers and mine inspectors Of
The different oollieries in the district.
When passed they become eligible TO
ole ction, the electors 10 be men whose
lives would In a measure be in the hands
sf the elected.
I'VE bslieve the above plan would be
productive Of harmony between the en-
ployeFs and employees; that the men
holding the highly important positions
Of inspector and hremen should be we'll
paid for their grave responsibiliti 8,
their duties should be sharply defined,
and they should be held accountable
for their shortcomings; that 9 force
should be detailed for the daily exam
ination Of ell old workings aud all coal
dlled from the face.
1--WE Wish TO congratulate you, Mr..
Coroner, upon the able, impartial and
very courteous manner in which you
have presided at this inquest and We de-
sire TO endorse every action yeu have
taken in this matter. We would strongly
recommend that the Government re-
muneFate you in q more generous man
ner than by the ordinary fee allowed
for inqussts. You are. We think, justly
and fairly entitled 20 IL !"